ph. Emma McVicar

If you've got it, flaunt it.

This cape fell into my hands and the day became beautiful. How should I pair it? Whimsical or bossy-chic? Definitely the latter, so slide on the cigarette pants, loose white shirt. Side pin the hair, and a bold black liner. Embellished black booties. Pout. for. days. 

Sure, it's not the most conventional of outwear, but it's effective at making a statement. Plus the satisfying swish of the cape is extremely empowering. 

Walk down the streets, and you feel like a revived Victorian. Quick, grab a pen, do a dance, be artsy. In fact, during my cape-daze I became a playwright. 

act 1 by Steffanee Wang

in those silly fantasies i have in my head, you’re sleeping next to me and my eyes flutter open. flutter because our eyelids are synonymous with the quiet beating of butterfly wings. but my eyes flutter open and you’re humming, vibrating, close to me. a warm cocoon. i smile. lean down, and pick up my laptop. or maybe a notebook. which one makes me look artsy-er. you’d think i was living a life of visual art. paying attention to what others will pay attention to. but my fingers are nimble—dancing over the keyboard, notebook, whatever, quick to catch this silent moment of togetherness. 

dance because the tips are my nails are ballerinas. i am dainty. so all of my limbs dance. stomp? never stomp. never trudge, or slam, or crush. pound.

pounding heart, in my chest, i’m too overwhelmed to continue.

three things happen:

1. close laptop

2. lay back down.

3. fall in love.

-end act 1-

Then put the books away, take a few photos, and fly off into the wind like the beautiful, winged butterfly you are. 

Details: Cape: American Apparel, Top: Zara Bottoms: GAP Boots: F21

It's been a long two weeks.

Not really but it feels like I'm starting to lose my grasp on the order of my life. Maybe it's the weather, but maybe I'm just telling myself that it's the weather. Maybe it's just me. Whatever it is, it always seems to start when I need to have the most control of my life. 

College is hard. College is long. I'm ready to go home. 

Motivation is makeup. 

I've been trying out new lines on my eyes, and other  lip-colors than "deep purple" for fall because fuck deep purple and plums and wines, and all its variations. And call me stupid, because I've just found out how to puff out my bangs with a flat iron. I've been using my friend's flat iron every morning, and every time I re-straighten, re-straighten, re-straighten, I remember that I need to buy some hair protectant, and I need to buy my own flat iron. 

Where art thou, perfect coat?

I wanted to buy that leopard coat but some bitch got there before me.

Remind me to never leave an item that I desperately want in the store because I'll "don't want to purchase it yet" because someone will buy it and I will hate them forever. 

In other news, I'm still searching for a furry coat. I found another one I liked today. It looked like it came from a suburban grandmother's closet. I want it. I left the store without it. I'll go in next weekend to buy it. 

I haven't learned my lesson.

Stressed but well dressed. (photos by Carson Brown)

I bought a long pencil skirt tonight because it was 15% off, and it was a get-better present for me. I'm going to ask my mother for this one as a christmas present. It's become a new passion.

It was the first actual actual snow day in Heavenston today, and I wore a short yellow dress. Call me the Chinese Madeline.

Here's my newest attempt at becoming Audrey Hepburn. This orange, orange coat I bought reminds me of the one she wore when she was being a cat. And for some reason, I kept calling the coat yellow. Perhaps I'm going color-blind.

And in case I forgot how to say say "yes" or "no" in English, I have it helpfully printed in French for me.

Stay de-stressed, loves, take a Lush bath bomb bath or something.

(Shout out to the lovely wildcats that live with me, congrats on beating Notre Dame. You are all amazing.)

Some Pink Sass

Lovelies--  It's been an exciting week for me. Halloween is coming up and I'm really excited about my costume. I am, however, missing a syringe to finish the costume off, so I need to get that. Does CVS sell syringes? Anyways, besides the upcoming parties and the inevitable "turn-ups", I also took a trip to a BDSM museum this weekend. It was very fascinating and I learned a lot about the history of pornography, BDSM, and how sexuality was represented in the past and how that representation changed as time went by. All of you in the Chicago area, go visit it sometime. It's off the Loyola Stop on the Red Line, and it's called the "Leather Archives & Museum" museum..... redundant? But just a word of warning: they hold nothing back, so, if you need to prepare yourselves, do that.

I really enjoyed this set of clothing I picked because it heavily features pink. And though I have had a history of despising the color pink, I've recently come to embrace the color; it's soft, and pretty, and there's definitely a societal message in wearing pink in there somewhere, but I'll leave it to you to try and decipher that. Pair my lovely fluffy pink sweater (that I bought for $5.45, holla to UO 50% off sales) with my fav fav fav Queen Bitch Necklace, and this combination is perfection. Oh, and I wore my Peter Rabbit socks, that I love so much, and I got some killer eye liner going. Ugh, perfect femme, girl power anthem.

My lovely, lovely, friend, Emma, took these photos, and they're wonderful as usual. She the most hilarious person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and she does a killer Bane impression. Maybe I'll get her to guest blog here....but until then, go check out her blog, it's the funniest thing you'll read today.

Anyways, without further ado check out the photos below, feat. my beautiful campus that is a divine entity in itself and some badass architecture

(discussion question: why do I look so pouty?)

Details: Top: UO; Pants: GAP; Necklace: Some local jewelry store; Socks: China; Jellies: American Apparel; Backpack: COACH

Wang x H&M

Lovelies,

Alas, I almost forgot this collab was happening (since the first announcement which was like in March???) and now I'm really excited, excited for it. Especially since a lot of the pieces are perfect for winter in cold-as-hell Heavenston (made 2 oxymorons there).

I've got to admit, I wasn't too excited when I first looked at the pieces, since I'm not a very athletic person and everything seemed to be jogging/sports/exercise wear, but I've come to terms that the "sporty" look is (and has been) a thing, and that I might be digging it. I actually wrote an blogpost for the STITCH blog that should be dropping tomorrow, (link will be included here) but I thought I'd go more personal and in-depth with my opinions on everything Mr. Wang has to offer.

First and foremost, I absolutely am in love with the shameless promotion. Yes. Wang. Get it. Plaster your name on everything. Not only is it highly convenient for me, I think it's an amazing tongue-in-cheek act that is just calling and begging for the jokes that everyone knows are coming. Yes, I think Mr. Wang is very, very, very, much aware that his last name is also slang for penis, and yes, I think everyone who has the last name Wang is aware of that and so endlessly tired of hearing it come up again and again. I, for one, am excited to take pride, for once, in my last name and ethnicity and everything that comes with the territory of having WANG printed across my chest, since for the longest time I've hated my last name (despite the fact it means "king/royalty" in Chinese). So yes, you'll see me strutting down the street in my 59.95 grey, chic as hell sweater with my name printed across it.

Second, the unveil was not actually a surprise. His signature touch is creating high-end street wear and I remember being able to feel that vibe when I watched for the first time a collection he was presenting at NYFW a few years ago. It was the cut-outs for days leather dresses, and strappy gladiator heels. And I think a lot of that is here in this collection, especially with the white and black leather-ish shirts. Wang is phenomenal in that he can keep this magical touch in everything he creates, even as creative director for Balenciaga you can see that in the black and white and cutouts and loose fitting and chic ness that is minimalism, and, dare i say it, norm core.

Plus, I don't think I have to explain why I'm excited for the parkas and the leather puffer jackets and sweatshirts. I'm ready for a warm winter, tucked deep inside a $300 Wang parka. And who's gonna stop me?

If you guys haven't yet, check out the full collection here and get your credit cards ready when the collection drops November 6th.


Other Favorite Pieces:

Hello, My Funny Face

Lovelies, Greetings from behind the lens of a fantastic and HQ camera. Alas, you can now see clearly all my facial imperfections and flaws. I'm so excited to bring this post to you guys, because it was truly a dream and amazing experience to create these series of photos. Plus, it's finally a HQ debut of my Mia Wallace hair, and I'm in love, in love, in love with it. 

As you can tell from the title of this post, I woke up (***flawless) feeling very Funny Face Audrey-esque and fell into the trap of wearing all black everything. Except for my ruby red purse, but that is the only cross shoulder purse I own--I own like 5 clutches; clutches are my everything. The beautiful knit sweater is courtesy of my lovely photographer Miss E. She thrifted it, which reminds me that she and I went consignment shopping a few days ago. I've been on the hunt for the best fur coat (one that hopefully won't break the bank) and while on my hunt I found this amazing Cache 2 piece evening gown. Black, beaded, crop top with a straight skirt. Chic, classic, a piece that requires a lot to pull off. $60 of beauty and royalty and perfection. I love it with all my heart. I didn't buy it but I think it will be hanging in my closet soon enough. 

I've been busy getting back into the journalistic style of writing, which is difficult but also lovely. I'm currently supposed to be working on a piece for work (it's only 300 words and I've got 350 so whatever) and it's going along ok. It's amazing to feel so attached to a practice; journalistic writing--and writing in general--comes so easily to me. Anyways, enough babbling. Here's me channeling my Funny Face.

 Deets: Top: F21, Sweater: thrifted, Shoes: Target, Bag: F21, Socks: American Apparel

Pulp Fiction, Cigarettes

Lovelies,

I finally got it. The haircut of my dreams. It's Mia Wallace and riot grrrl and all the sass and pouts in the world all in one beautiful haircut. No doubt, this year I'm bloodying up my face and getting a syringe taped to my chest for Halloween. Oh, and we'll be chain-smoking all night. (I'll just put a cigarette in between my lips; it'll be a metaphor.)

I've had so many people not be able to recognize me after I cut it since it's such a huge transformation and in more ways than one it's sort of refreshing to sort of have an entirely 'new'-ish identity.

My fav things to pair this cut with is a red, red, red, matte, lipstick and an intense black wing. Mess up the hair, and put on your most bratty pout and you'll rock the world.

If you're interested in getting this haircut, it's super important to know that it's pretty high maintenance. Esp. if you have such straight, limp hair like I do. Blow dry with a round brush, put texturizing product, and try not to touch it every 5 minutes. (Which is h a r d to do).

I've also been putting my hair in twin french braids at night to get a slight wave the next morning--and you know, i've realized that it's sort of channeling the Karlie Bob. I've yet to take professional photos with the new do but expect a post with pretty, glossy, magazine pictures soon.

Love, love, love from chilly Chicago. 

Becoming Mia Wallace by steffanee-wang featuring black pants